American Studies

The American Studies Subject Guide is a launch pad for scholarly research designed for the American Studies Department at Brown University.

Here you will find tips for searching the web more effectively along with annotated lists of source materials available in the Brown Library and online.

The Wild Web

• Google Tips and Tricks: Google's guide to using their search engine effectively. Includes boolean searching, wild cards, and more.
• Wikipedia Responsibly: Student Wikipedia Use Policy from the University of California Santa Barbara. Describes Wikipedia's strengths and weaknesses.  Discusses version history for citations.
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources: A helpful guide from the University of California Santa Cruz, University Library.
• Peer Review: An excellent overview of the process of peer review, its benefits, and its shortcomings.  Written by the Linux Information Project.

The Library Web

• WorldCat Explained: About page for WorldCat, the premier federated library catalog.
• Brown's NEW Library Search Tool: About page for the new unified search tool.  Learn how to query JOSIAH and subscription databases at the same time.
• Google Scholar: Google Scholar uses the Google search engine to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports. Google Scholar results now include links to Brown University Library resources. These links will appear automatically if you search from an on-campus computer or use the link above; otherwise, off-campus you must go to "Scholar Preferences" and search for "Brown". For further information see Google Scholar FAQ.

How to request articles not available online at Brown.

To gain access to licensed resources:

• Use VPN if off-campus
• Use Secure Wireless if on campus